After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Chapter 3

The next second, the small black hand that had been squashed into a thin sheet once again slithered out through the gap and perseveringly moved in front of Ye Jia. It waved exaggeratedly, "Can you see me? I don't believe you can't see me. Hello? My friend?"

Ye Jia's hand holding his cup tightened, "………"

Looks like it wasn't a hallucination.

He took in a deep breath and spoke slowly, "……I got rid of you."

Had his skills become that rusty? How could this thing that should've been eliminated by him still be able to dance around in front of him?

"Y-yes…….."

As if sensing some danger, the small black hand stopped waving around, "Almost all my energy is gone and it was also thanks to that that I was able to return to my senses….but……."

"I-I realised……that I couldn't get more than one hundred metres away from you." The small black hand fidgeted until it had turned into a ball, "It would be discovered sooner or later, so I thought it would be better to make it clear from the start. Although I don't remember much of what happened before, but the scent on your body is something I'm very familiar with. You wish to become stronger, don't you? I think we can mutually benefit each other, because, you see, as a ghost, I can help you out and as for you, you just need to give me a little bit of your life energy to let me recover….."

The more it spoke, the more excited it became. It excitedly started to wave around more, as if it could already see its beautiful future.

Ye Jia: "………."

This ghost was too noisy.

He rubbed his temples that throbbed due to overtime and then turned around and slammed the empty cup upside down over the small black hand that continued to wave around non-stop.

Small black hand: "…….." ???

It tried to change its body to escape —– But was unsuccessful.

The phantom rammed against the glass, making 'ding, ding, ding' sounds, but the cup was like an impenetrable iron wall. Not only could it not escape from inside, the cup also couldn't even be moved.

The small black hand panicked, "W-what did you do?! Why can't I get out?"

"You said you don't remember much of what happened before?" Ye Jia yawned.

His eyes were filled with lifelessness due to lack of sleep. He said expressionlessly, "It's okay. I'll make you remember."

Dark energy slowly gathered in his hand.

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees in an instant. A strange shadow enveloped the whole room and a cold sense of danger rose.

Ye Jia revealed a small smile: "It was my mistake last time. It won't happen again this time."

The small black hand instinctively backed away and turned into a thin sheet of paper. It pressed itself tightly against the glass behind it and cried out in fear: "Wait, wait, wait, wait!! Let's talk, let's talk!! D-d-don't come over——"

The dark energy in Ye Jia's hand took a physical form.

It was a sickle.

It had a simple, slender and long handle made of bone and a long almost crescent shaped blade at the end. The blade was like a physical manifestation of moonlight; it was bright and white, and one could feel cold bloody energy emanating from it even while standing from a distance.

…….Wait a minute. A sickle?

"It's you?!" The small black hand exclaimed in shock.

The next second, the sickle swung down.

It cut through the air with ease. As the paper-thin blade fell, it didn't hurt the cup at all. Both silently and quickly, it flew towards the small black hand.

It then suddenly stopped just in front of it.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes, "You know me?"

The small black hand scrambled to another corner of the cup away from the sickle and stammered pathetically, "Ace! You're Ace!"

Ye Jia was startled.

The next second, the sickle turned back into pitch black smoke which then very quickly dissipated in the air.

He hadn't heard this name for a long time.

Ace. The only player who was able to clear the infinite flow escape game. The uncrowned king that no one could surpass on the points leaderboard.

——From the moment he left the game, Ye Jia thought he would never hear that name again.

"Y-you're the highest ranked one on the hatred leaderboard! Right now, even as much as 80 million points will be rewarded in exchange for information about you.!"

Ye Jia: "…….."

???

What the hell?

Highest ranked on the hatred leaderboard?

Please read this from kk translates

There were both light and dark leaderboards in the game. The light one was the point leaderboard while the dark one was the hatred leaderboard. The higher the hatred value among ghosts a player incurred, the higher their rank on that list and, the higher the ranking, the more ghosts there are willing to fork out power and points in exchange for the players life.

If you offended a ghost who had been practicing for a hundred years and wasn't able to nip it in the bud, then you could only wait for your name to appear on the list and be chased by other ghosts who wanted the reward.

In Ye Jia's memory, he had never ranked very high on that list.

—– At most, it was around the twentieth to thirtieth place.

After all, despite his reputation, Ye Jia personally felt that he acted low-key and rarely mixed with other ghosts and players. Even if there was any enmity, he often resolved it on the spot and rarely left it to develop further overnight.

And more importantly……..

Ye Jia repeated in disbelief: "80 million points???"

He pondered for a moment and asked: "Can it be exchanged to RMB?"

Small black hand: "……….."

Don't you think you're focusing on the wrong point?

After careful consideration, Ye Jia sighed regretfully.

The reward on the hatred leaderboard was not offered by someone with friendly intentions and exchanging it into money was also a big problem. If it weren't for this, he really wanted to take that reward for himself.

He reluctantly pulled his attention away from his abysmal salary and bonus, and continued to ask: "Who posted it?"

"Who else could it be?" The small black hand replied naturally, "Of course it's King."

King? What's that?

Ye Jia was even more confused.

There were indeed distinct classes between the ghosts but King? Never heard of it.

At least, this King didn't exist when he was in the game.

"And apart from that King?" Ye Jia asked, "Who else offered a reward for me?"

The small black hand replied, "That's it."

Ye Jia: "?"

How could that be possible?

Before he cleared the game, even if there weren't a thousand ghosts offering a reward for him, there were at least a hundred who did. How was it that there are fewer of them now?

It didn't make sense!

"B-but, that reward is only a reward for information!" Probably worried that Ye Jia may be thinking that it would betray him, the small black hand quickly expressed its loyalty, "A-and boss, you must believe in me! My spiritual body is now tied to you. Even if you give me 800 lives, I wouldn't dare betray you!"

"………." Only a reward for information? Not asking for his life?

Ye Jia almost laughed out loud.

There was actually such a gentle ghost in the game?

What a joke.

——- Ghosts have no moral bottom lines. Ye Jia never had any intentions to believe anything this guy said, let alone something so outrageous.

Ye Jia easily put the topic aside.

He changed the course of the conversation: "So, you came from the game?"

"Y-yes!" The small black hand pressed itself against the wall of the cup and replied while trembling.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes, "How did you do it?"

The small black hand shrank back even more, "I-I also don't know! One day, a door suddenly opened! So, I came out!"

After hearing this, Ye Jia suddenly had a bad feeling.

He asked, "Who else has come out beside you?"

"I don't know." The small black hand shook, "The door was just there. Anyone would go through it if they see it…is what I think."

Ye Jia was startled.

Across the thin wall, one could vaguely hear the excessively loud morning news broadcast coming from next door, "…..Recently, there have been a number of disappearances. The police are currently investigating……."

Ye Jia's eyes darkened.

He lowered his eyes and looked down at the small black hand that was trapped inside the upside-down cup. His tone softened, "Thank you for telling me this."

But before the small black hand could breathe a sigh of relief, the next second, the sickle once again appeared.

Ye Jia looked down and narrowed his eyes, "Your job is over now."

Small black hand: "………."

…..So who's the actual ghost here?

Seeing that the blade was approaching, it cried out again, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! I have something else to tell you!"

"You went to that building to find that girl's spiritual body, didn't you?!" The small black hand gestured wildly and continued in one breath, "I was too hungry and ate the remaining spiritual body, but I didn't expect it to already be contaminated inside. That's why I lost my mind and was eroded by resentment energy. I have her remaining memories!!"

Ye Jia's actions paused.

"Huh?"

"I can take you to the last place in her memory!" The small black hand trembled and had at some point started to speak with honorifics, "Please be merciful! I am very useful!"

The sickle disappeared.

Ye Jia was in thought.

The last place in her memory…….?

It would likely be where the instigator is.

He turned his head and glanced at the pile of documents that nearly reached his waist. A headache from the thought of needing to stay up late again hit him——-

One missing persons case, when it reaches the logistics department, equated to one hundred and twenty-eight documents to sort out.

If he let that unknown ghost continue to act recklessly, all that would increase several folds. With that, two missing persons would be two hundred and fifty-six documents and three would be three hundred and eighty-four……

After calculating this, Ye Jia sucked in a breath with shock.

At this rate, let alone weekends, his annual leave would probably all be gone.

—– He didn't want to be overworked to death at such a young age!

Ye Jia lowered his head and examined the glass cup carefully for a few seconds. The small black hand almost thought it was going to die.

He then slowly took a deep breath and said with difficulty through gritted teeth: "……Let's go."

Working overtime without pay. This was too miserable.

.

It was a loud and noisy environment.

An auntie carrying a basket of vegetables, middle school students on their way to school and elites in suits. All of them were standing at the small bus stop.

Ye Jia who hadn't slept all night and had no time to rest stood expressionlessly in the crowd.

He lowered his voice, "Are you sure…..that the last place in the girl's memory is the bus?"

"Of course!" The small black hand who couldn't be seen by others sat on Ye Jia's shoulder.

Ye Jia: "Could she be wanting to go somewhere?"

"No." The small black hand answered with confidence, "I remember that the last scene she saw while she was alive was inside the bus!"

"Which route?"

"That…I don't know." The small black hand's voice grew smaller, "But, once the bus comes, her resentment will respond, and I'll know immediately!"

It stretched out two black hands and massaged Ye Jia's shoulders in attempt to flatter him, "Don't worry. Soon! The bus will be here soon!"

Please read this from kk translates

Ye Jia said gloomily, "…..I hope it does."

As time passed, the people around him boarded the buses wave after wave and left.

The sun above his head gradually rose and then it started to set in the west.

The fewer people there were standing at the bus stop, the lower the air pressure around Ye Jia.

The small black hand fearfully shrank smaller and smaller into a ball.

Finally, a bus turned the corner and drove over. The number above could be seen from a distance: No. 148.

"This one!" The small black hand regained its spirits in an instant and started to wave around.

Ye Jia glanced at it coldly.

At this moment, the bus stopped in front of him and the folding door slowly opened.

Ye Jia boarded the bus. He reached into his pocket and dug out two coins but just as he was about to throw it into the coin box, he heard a surprised voice not far away, "Brother Ye?"

The coins rolled down and made a clinking sound.

Ye Jia raised his head in surprise and looked in the direction of the voice.

Although it was daytime, the bus was empty. There were only a few people with their heads lowered sitting in the corner, swaying as the bus moved.

In the middle of the bus, in a seat near the window, Ye Jia saw a familiar face.

Cheng Cezhi waved at him excitedly: "Brother Ye, Brother Ye! It really is you!"

Ye Jia: "………"

Damn, why is he here?

The small black hand quietly whispered into his ear, "Boss, do you know him?"

Ye Jia ignored it.

He supported himself with the handrail and walked quickly towards Cheng Cezhi as the bus moved.

Cheng Cezhi proactively moved in to make space for Ye Jia and then babbled endlessly, "I didn't expect the medical department of our bureau to be so far away. It was too late yesterday, and I would probably only get back at 11 or 12 in the evening, so I decided to go today instead. In any case, head chief gave me three days off……"

"Three days?" Ye Jia was surprised.

Cheng Cezhi nodded happily, "Yeah, I think our head chief really cares for his subordinates!"

"………" Ye Jia who had never been granted more than half a day of leave fell silent.

Cheng Cezhi was completely oblivious, "Brother Ye, do you also feel uncomfortable after going to that building? It's good to have it checked out. After all, being trapped in a nightmare is not fun. The resentful spirit that were once in that building was probably pretty strong to even affect ordinary people. After I went back, I couldn't sleep at all."

The resentful spirit he was talking about was sitting on Ye Jia's shoulder at this moment, playing with its own fingers.

Ye Jia took a deep breath and interrupted him, "Get off the bus."

Cheng Cezhi was stunned, "Huh….? Why?"

"You got on the wrong bus." Ye Jia said concisely, "The bus to the medical department is No. 48."

Cheng Cezhi froze, "Really? I only came to M City not long ago so I'm not familiar with this."

He lowered his head and flipped through manual distributed by their department. The bus was so quiet, all they could hear was the engine rumbling and the clattering of the doors, "Oh yeah, it is No. 48. I'm so silly, to actually make a mistake like this……That's true, I haven't heard of a No. 158 in M City….."

While talking, Cheng Cezhi stood up and shouted at the driver, "Mister driver! Hello! Sorry but can you stop at the next stop!"

Ye Jie moved aside to let him walk past. As he did this, he inadvertently glanced outside the window and suddenly froze.

The sunny weather from before had disappeared at some unknown point in time and the spacious road was now enveloped with thick fog which slowly rolled past the bus windows. It was dark and cold and quite haunting.

The bus shook as it moved but the inside of it was completely silent.

The entire bus was shrouded in silence. It gave off a creepy atmosphere.

Ye Jia's heart fell.

It was probably too late to get off the bus now.

He immediately turned his head to look at Cheng Cezhi who hadn't noticed anything and said, "Wai……"

But the next moment, the bus stopped.

Ye Jia cut the rest of his words off.

—— Why wasn't this bus playing its cards according to the normal routine?

Immediately afterwards, there was a creak and the door opened.

Cheng Cezhi happily expressed his thanks, "Thank you Mister!"

After saying this, he went towards the door.

But before he could reach it, he heard a couple of buzzing sounds. The lights in the bus flashed a few times and, as if it was pushed down by a heavy object, the entire bus suddenly leaned to one side—-

It was as if something had boarded the bus.

Looking past Cheng Cezhi's shoulder, Ye Jia clearly saw the huge figure who had caused the bus to lean to one side.

Unexpectedly, it was a very thin person.

He was almost two metres tall, and his arms and legs were thin like bamboo poles. It was as if there was only a thin layer of skin wrapped around his bones.

The thick fog behind him almost swallowed up those thin and slender limbs, making the body appear as thin as a piece of paper. In such an environment, it looked even more eerie and strange.

Ye Jia: "………"

Damn, an acquaintance.